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Cannot play or delete file
Greetings - I have an MPEG file that I cannot do anything at all with. It won't play and I can't delete it. When I right-click on the file name, the "Cut/Copy/Create Shortcut/Delete/Rename/Property options are not available. Am I stuck with this thing for the rest of my life???
Thanks
John
542
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Posted November 4th, 2006 22:00
No. Can't drag it. Will try the Safe Mode routine.542
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Posted November 5th, 2006 10:00
If that does not work try this
http://personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v31/vic31.htm542
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Posted November 11th, 2006 22:00
542
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Posted November 11th, 2006 22:00
Unfortunately, I tried all of these options - safe mode, DOS commands, etc - and none of them work. In the case of the DOS command, it does not recognize the file name. So I guess it will have a little home on my computer for as long as the latter lives.Thanks for the help.542
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Posted November 11th, 2006 23:00
Predictably, it works for every file (meaning, the "unlocker" option appears upon right-click), except the one I need. It's somewhat humorous, actually!542
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Posted November 12th, 2006 00:00
OK - I've finally succeeded. The file had a gigantic name that made it extremely hard to delete through DOS; Unlocker didn't work; I tried another program that supposedly deletes problem files, but it couldn't deal with the file name. So I temporarily cleaned the directory, went back to DOS, used wildcards to delete the remaining contents (ie, the problem file) and alas, it has moved on to that big recycle bin in the sky.Even though the other stuff didn't work, I learned some things, so I appreciate the suggestions. The Unlocker appears to be pretty well regarded, for instance.542
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Posted November 12th, 2006 00:00
Another possibility:create a new folder with the same parent folder as the folder with the pesky mpeg file, move all the other files out of the folder to the new folder, delete the folder with the mpeg file, then rename the new folder to the name of the one you deleted.Or as a final thought, try to delete from a command window: click start, run, type cmd, click OK. In the command window that opens typecd{space} { path to the folder where the file is} (without the {}), press enter. The cursor should show that you are now at that folder.Check the contents of the folder by typing DIR, press enter. If the file is listed type Del filename, press enter. Does that delete the file?If the file is not listed try type attrib -h -s filename, press enter. type DIR and press enter again, it should now be listed. Type del filename, press enter.542
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Posted November 12th, 2006 21:00
If the file name so long that cmd prompt delete command can't handle it, you can either try renaming it some to something managable in the traditional 12345678.123 format. Or, you can use put the entire path and filename in quotes at the c: prompt:
del "c:\my documents\my files\longfilename.doc"
(press Enter)
The other possibility is that the file has been marked as Read Only so you can't delete it. Try this from the c: prompt:
attrib -r -a "c:\my documents\my files\longfilename.doc"
(press Enter)
Then:
del "c:\my documents\my files\longfilename.doc"
(press Enter)
Ron
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542
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Posted November 4th, 2006 22:00
Ron